New releases and coming soon to MUBI UK (29th April 2017)
David Farnor | On 29, Apr 2017
From violent Japanese cinema to indie French drama, MUBI closes out April and takes us into May in typically diverse style.
Here’s what’s new, coming soon and leaving soon to the subscription streaming service:
This week on MUBI
Man at Bath – 29th April
A low-budget vision expressively set between New York and Gennevilliers, Christophe Honoré’s small yet ambitious movie is a portrait of separation. Staged in a inspired framework with an indelible cast and aesthetic sensibility, it is one of the great queer love stories in recent French cinema.
Battle Royale – 30th April
Forget The Hunger Games. Before Katniss’ Mockingbird came director Kinji Fukasaku with his shocking, violent political satire that takes Lord of the Flies to the extreme.
Le Revelateur – 1st May
MUBI launches a new retrospective dedicated to auteur Philippe Garrel, whose new film debuts in Cannes this month. It begins in Garrel’s, 20s with the first film he made among the radical Zanizbar art collective.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – 2nd May
By the mid 1930s, Capra’s work had become a genre in itself, so it’s only fitting that MUBI’s season of his American Dreams concludes with a classic piece of “Capracorn” cinema, a paean to integrity and democracy that still feels relevant today.
Other new releases on MUBI
The Tragedy of Macbeth
“It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing.” Film critics love to quote Shakespeare when it comes to bashing the latest Michael Bay film, but in 1971, Roman Polanski turned Macbeth into exactly that. A brutal tale of greed, ambition and its moral undoing, the director brought a strikingly different interpretation to the text. Read our review
Romeo and Juliet
Far different than Polanski’s blood-stained Bard, Franco Zeffirelli’s lush late-60s take on Romeo and Juliet turns up the heat and infuses his film with enough youth and vigour to escape camp and cliche.
You Can’t Take It With You
MUBI’s Frank Capra season continues with the film that won the Italian-American his third Oscar — and also his first collaboration with (a very young) Jimmy Stewart. This spirited, heart-warming comedy rewards us with a much-needed dose of optimism and genuine utopia.
Solitary Fragments (Jaime Rosales)
In this Goya Awards winner, Rosales splits the screen to remarkable effect, illuminating the limits and contradictions of human communication and cinematic storytelling.
Bullet in the Head (Jaime Rosales)
Jaime Rosales takes on the true story of two Spanish police officers killed by suspected Basque separatists in France.
Dream & Silence (Jaime Rosales)
Oriol and Yolanda live in Paris with their two daughters. Oriol is an architect and Yolanda is a teacher. During a holiday at the Ebro River Delta they have an accident that changes their lives.
Laurel Canyon
Even in her second feature, director Lisa Cholodenko had already honed her knack for understanding the nuances of human relationships, as she follows a pair of upper-middle-class lovebirds as they relocate from the East Coast to Los Angeles – and the estranged mother of one of them decides to put them up. Frances McDormand, Kate Beckinsale and Christian Bale star.
And Now for Something Completely Different
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that Monty Python started out as a TV sketch show. Between the naughty boy Messiahs and killer rabbits, you could almost overlook the dead parrots and cheese shops. Effectively a 90-minute highlights reel of the comic troupe’s small screen creations, And Now for Something Completely Different reminds you just how great that old Flying Circus was. Read our full review.
The Marriage of Maria Braun
MUBI’s Fassbinder retrospective reaches its conclusion with the director’s biggest box office success. Collaborating with the late cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, and starring Hannah Schygulla, this German Hollywood movie is study of a woman picking herself up from the ruins of her own life, and a pointed metaphor for a society determined to forget its past.
Maesta, the Passion of the Christ
MUBI begins the Easter weekend with Andy Guérif’s 2015 adaptation of the Maestà of Duccio as a tableau vivant: the tale of the Christ’s Passion in 26 successive panels, from the arrival in Jerusalem to the road to Emmaus.
Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present
MUBI celebrates the late Tony Conrad with this documentary portrait of the multi-disciplinarian genius, whose charisma and talent leap off the screen.
The Two Jakes
17 years on from Chinatown, Jack Nicholson and Roman Polanski reunite for this follow-up for detective Jake, who is still mourning the events of the original film, as he gets drawn into a web of conspiracy and deceit.
Gimme the Loot
When Malcolm and Sofia’s latest graffiti masterpiece is buffed by a rival gang, these two determined Bronx teens must hustle, steal, and scheme to get revenge and become the biggest writers in the City. Adam Leon’s energetic debut from 2012 is a portrait of the high-wire act of balancing friendship with artistic ambition.
1,000 Times Good Night
Juliette Binoche plays a war photographer in Erik Poppe’s powerful 2013 film. “As Rebecca’s calm exterior crumbles, the beautiful cinematography captures the fallout of war in a genuinely affecting way. You wish A Thousand Times Good Night managed to sustain that subtlety throughout. The uniformly excellent performances, though, mean that there are real moments of power between the overdone lines.” Read our full review
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Last chance to stream: Titles leaving MUBI soon
1,000 Times Good Night
Available until end of: 29th April
Gimme the Loot
Available until end of: 30th April
The Chase
Available until end of: 1st May
The Wild One
Available until end of: 2nd May
Effi Briest
Available until end of: 3rd May
La Rupture
Available until end of: 4th May
The Colors of the Mountain
Available until end of: 5th May
Sarah Winchester, Phantom Opera
Available until end of: 6th May
Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present
Available until end of: 7th May
The Two Jakes
Available until end of: 8th May
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
Available until end of: 9th May